Midnight Morons
by FrostPrince
Summary: Sun coaxes Neptune into taking a late night stroll around Beacon. The story's paralleled by a telling of a wacky night when they were kids. (Multi-shot).


The concept of sleep just wasn't sinking in.

I tried to will my body into obedience, but the excessive quantity of chocolate coursing through me argued against it. Now the wispy moonlight was too distracting, the dead, airy silence too blaring, every nerve in my body taunting me with their presence.

_Screw this._

I pursed my lips to ease their distasteful dryness. Shooting up to a sitting position in bed, I surveyed the room. The diluted figures of my unconscious teammates were always funny to me in a way, like I was being rebellious and edgy for being awake while they weren't. It was probably childish…but I loved every second of it.

Neptune's bed was parallel to mine, the closest in the row of four. His form rose with every breath. I tried not to linger on picturing how his entire body was positioned under there in comparison to the indentation of his sheets, or what he could be dreaming about. His face, the only visible part of him, captured moonlight in ways that made my sight blur.

I wasn't good at following through in what I told myself.

Meanwhile, it was EXTRMELY grating, trying to ease myself out from under the covers. The school may have been rich, but it clearly wasn't able to fix audibly springy mattress issues. Though I secretly felt they may have done this on purpose.

Waking up my teammates was not something I enjoyed.

My bare feet touched the floor. I was indifferent to temperature change after years of practice…

The ground being indifferent to pressure, however, wasn't going to happen.

Neptune's eyes flew open.

Crap.

I quickly mouthed _I'M SO SORRY_.

My blue-haired buddy returned, _IT'S OKAY._

I loved this guy.

Wait, did I say I loved him? I meant…no, actually, yeah, I loved him.

Neptune puffed his cheeks in concentration as he braved through his own cringe-worthy bed dilemma, coming to a stand in front of me. Neither of us seemed to be bothered by the night's coolness, for both of us were shirtless. I tried not to think of this as I watched his core flex and tried not to think of that while he looked at me with that adorable smile from his kissable lips and I shouldn't be thinking of that while I stared into his eyes and honestly I have to stop myself but I don't want to…

Reason A for loving him came from memorable bonding-filled experiences in our pre-teens, or just our connection in general.

Reason B: he was fucking sexy. Especially when he managed to not wear clothes for any period of time.

"The current rhetorical night question for you iiiis…'going somewhere'?"

Reason A was showing, but Reason B was tended to in secrecy.

"How high are the odds that I'll fall asleep in Grimm Studies?" I hissed lowly.

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "Whether you decide to stay awake tonight or not?"

I nodded.

"Then astronauts are jealous of your altitude."

I grinned slyly. "Then I may as well have fun."

I clung to the wall, triumphantly avoiding floorboard squeaks that way as I reached the door.

"Seriously?" Neptune demanded. There was irritation in his tone, but I could tell it was half-hearted.

In my mind: _Come on, just give in. I know you want to. It'll be fu-un. _

I looked back. My eyes pleaded.

"…"

Neptune mouthed _let me get a shirt._

I fist-pumped.

My fingerprint unlocked the door's mechanisms. I twisted the knob like it was a sacred artifact and peered into the corridor.

Dim. Spooky. I felt right at home.

Neptune bumped into my back.

"SHIII-" I whispered, holding back the build-up of something I seriously didn't wanna announce to the school.

"Sorry, sorry," Neptune panicked, grabbing my shoulders quickly to either reorient me or assure me.

Either way, I went stiff as a titanium alloy.

Wow, that was nerdy. Thanks, Nep.

Holy crap, what had I become?

"I'm good,' I lifted my hands, signaling the retreat of his own before I went ape-shit, or bananas…oh lord, why was my subconscious trying to be funny now?

"Did you make a plan before randomly deciding to wander through a pitch-black structure with the real possibility of getting caught?" my totally _supportive _friend asked.

"I think on the fly," I replied cockily.

"Knowing you, we'll end up doing hilarious vandalism or-"

"Let's steal some food!" I suggested way too brightly for any normal person to not be put off by it.

"-or pointless theft," Neptune finished. "Sigh."

"You can pick our next dating spot," I winked playfully, my brain IMMEDIATELY regretting making fun of myself for the sake of flirting that wasn't trying to be serious even though it reeeeeeally was…

"Deal," Neptune smirked, leading the way.

I mentally thanked him for existing in my life.

The eerie silence of the corridor was rudely broken by both of our breaths and soft footfalls. Lazy fluorescent lights from above helped both of us keep sight of each other. Everywhere was lifeless and pale, from the rough silver walls to the crimson carpet I clung my eyes to. The exception throughout all this came from the radiating core of comforting color and heat by my side. When one of us accidentally sped up, we'd slow down for the other. Usually, that was Neptune and his ridiculously long legs.

He gave a muffled chuckle when he turned around to wait for me again.

"Your tail's tense," Neptune stated, containing a cheeky grin. "Just randomly letting you know."

"I get a rush from adventure," I waved it off.

"Just…don't get all cocky. You know?" Neptune advised. His eyes glinted with barely noticeable concern. I melted slightly from being transfixed on them for longer than what was healthy. "We're just gonna be cool. We're gonna casually steal some food, and we're gonna be cool."

"Thanks, Mr. Parent-I-Don't-Need," I mumbled. "Nervous?"

"In ways."

I was then met with a laugh that tasted of "humoring-me".

* * *

**_OoO_**

Eleven years old and we still played with action figures. Neither of us gave a damn.

"Tridor, no!" I made my gorilla action figure cry out, the shadow of his fallen comrade illuminated by the flashlight I had carefully positioned on the sleeping bag. The tent walls glowed a haunting orange that didn't match the blue in my best friend's hair.

Neptune manipulated his trident-wearing, tall-and-slim sea king so that it was stabbing its own stomach with its weapon.

"No, Munk, it must be done," Neptune croaked. He should've totally signed up for voice acting jobs, he was that amazing. "The curse can finally stop spreading."

I made Munk reach out desperately for his aquatic comrade "I don't care," I tried and failed to sob. ""I just care about losing you."

"It's worth it to save humankind and faunuskind," Neptune voiced, capturing the dying breaths of a person in ways that would make me jealous if I wasn't a proud friend. "Goodbye, my friend."

Tridor went limp.

"Noooooo!" Munk cried out.

"End scene," we both said.

"So that's twice Tridor sacrificed himself for Munk," I pointed out, giving Neptune his action figure back. The world didn't understand 'faunus rights' yet, so sadly I had to borrow Munk from Nep. He was cool with it, though.

"I can't let Tridor let Munk sacrifice himself," Neptune said. "He cares too much about Munk."

"But Munk always throws himself into battle," I argued. "And he cares about Tridor, too, so wouldn't that make him better for self-sacrifice?"

"How dare you take Tridor's honorable actions away?" Neptune feigned offense. "Besides, Munk needs to carry on his legacy."

I held my hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine, but SOMEDAY," I reminded him.

"I'm hungry," Neptune grumbled, collapsing onto his own sleeping bag. "I hope my parents aren't still up."

"Nah, I hear them snoring," I reassured him, wondering how anyone could hate us faunus when we're clearly epic with our heightened senses.

"I'm gonna get food," he stated.

"Nah, let me do it," I interjected, jumping to my feet. "Pleeeease? It'll be fuuuun."

"Okay," Neptune rolled his eyes, smiling. "I want cookies. I DEMAND the cookies."

"And so it shall be done," I bowed dramatically, adopting a sophisticated accent.

"Nice accent."

"Oh, really? Thanks!"

"Shhh," Neptune reminded me with a finger to his lips.

"Right," I blushed. "Sorry."

I unzipped the tent and stepped out, forgetting that the floorboards were prone to whining. I uttered a curse to chastise myself before moving ahead with more caution. I glanced at Neptune's bed in the corner, big enough to support an entire fictional land mass, which both of us use to our advantage when playing. If only my bed was like that, but since I'm basically a piece of furniture here now, it hasn't been a problem. We'd be using the bed right now, but I opted for an almost-authentic camping experience. So far, it had been successful, with spooky stories and s'mores (banana ones for me). Speaking of bananas, I was rethinking my decision to wear my glow-in-the-dark banana pattern pajamas. Was I crazy?

The nightmarish starkness of the black hallway made me shrink into myself. It didn't matter how old I was or how well I could see, nighttime was still something for my brain to panic at the thought of it, to make it tell my gut to tighten.

One short staircase was all I needed to overcome. I felt off-balance as I clung to the railing, one agonizing foot moving forward at a time. The feel of the carpeted surface was comfortable, but also brought images of losing traction to my mind.

Once that death trap ended, I held out my arms slightly. With more balance I unceremoniously entered the kitchen doorway.

_Cookies. Cookies. Cookies._

I didn't need to remember where they were, actually. Closing my eyes, I copied the same pattern of movements I'd been doing for years, reaching the proper cupboard and opening it, feeling around for the familiar, flimsy, rough box. I didn't pull out the tray, but rather shoved my hand inside to painstakingly find the back row. True to my expertise, the four last cookies were there.

That mission came to an end, but food was not enough.

No. There needed to be completion. We needed full satisfaction. We needed…**_milk_**.

The inner fridge light greeted me warmly. I tried not to focus on the terrifying way it outlined the room's shadows. I had to brave through this. The milk was totally essential! Neptune would love me for this, and that's what mattered.

Two glasses obtained, and everything put back where it belonged, and I was done. Now it was time to head back…

I tripped and fell.

"Ooph!" I exclaimed, not loud enough to be heard. However, the chair I tripped over made enough clatter for me to hear a lamp flicker on from Neptune's parents' room.

Crap.

The glasses were intact, though granted the spilled milk didn't make that a win in my book.

"Sun?" Neptune's mom asked, her flashlight blinding my eyes.

Neptune trotted down the steps and crossed to the room to join us. "Sun?"

"Yay, I'm a celebrity." I rolled my eyes jokingly. "I'm fine."

My friend crossed his arms. "I figured cookies would be enough for us."

"But this was a better idea," I chirped, getting to my feet and placing everything on the table. Miraculously, the cookies were intact.

"Maybe you should watch more spy movies," Neptune chuckled. "You might learn something."

"Will do," I nodded.


End file.
